Sealing-tool



E. E. FLORA.

SEALlNG TOOL.

APPLICATION man OCT. 9. 1917. RENEWED DEC. 24. 1920.

Patented Aug. 2, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

E. E. FLORA.

SEALING TOOL.

APPLICATION FILED 0m. 9. 1912. .nzmzwzo 05c. 24. 1920.

1,386,098. Pat nted 2,1921.

SHE S-SH EET 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ELLSWORTH E. FLORA, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIG-N OR TO THE NATIONAL BINDING MACHINE COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

SEALING-TOOL.

Application filed October 9, 1917, Serial No. 195,502. Renewed December 24, 1920.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ELLswoRTH E. FLORA, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Chicago, county of Cook, and State of Illinois, have invented new and useful Improvements in Sealing-Tools, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in sealing tools of the character used for sealing or crimping the connecting ties or seals on the joined ends of box straps or bale bands.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a tool of this character adapted for sealing band ties of the character disclosed in the pending application of Ellsworth E. Flora, filed September 26, 1916, Serial No. 122,214, for art of joining metal straps and sealing joints, and to produce the sealed joint disclosed in that application.

A further object of the invention is to pro vide a tool of this character in which the seal is compressed or crimped progressively from end to end as distinguished from a single compression such as applied by a vise or similar tool, whereby the resistance to distortion of the entire metal of the seal does not have to be overcome at any one instance, and the seal may be effectively compressed without undue exertion and without long levers, screws or similar devices.

A further object of the invention is to provide a tool of this character in which the compression or crimping of the seal is effected by rolling action and without undue pressure on the material of the box or bale, so that the straps may be effectively sealed around boxes or packing cases of light material without danger of crushing them.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of this character which will be cheap to manufacture and simple to operate so that it will withstand the rough usage of the shipping room and be effective in operation even with the cheapest labor.

lVith the above objects in view my invention consists of the construction shown and described in the accompanying drawings and specification, wherein-- Figure 1 is a side elevation of the sealing tool with its compressing parts open to receive the bands and seal between them;

Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the tool Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 2, 1921.

Serial No. 433,053.

showing the bands and seal in position to be crimped;

Fig. 3 is a section on line 3-3 of Fig. 2 showing the position of the parts after the crimping action has begun;

Fig. 4 is a detail view showing interchangeable parts to adapt the tool to seals of different sizes; and

Fig. 5 is a section on line 5-5 of Fig. 3.

Referring to the drawings, 1 indicates the main casting or body of the sealing tool which, as shown, comprises a toe or anvil piece 2 having a flat under face adapted to rest on the box to which the band to be sealed is applied, the toe having set in its upper face a hardened plate or track 3 against which the seal is crimped.

The casting is formed at one edge of the toe with a standard 4 connecting the upper portion of the casting with the toe, but leaving one side open so that the bevel edge 5 of the toe may be slipped under the band when the tool is to be used for crimping the seal. The upper part of the body portion overhangs the toe 2 as shown, and is formed with a vertical opening overlying the hardened plate 3 and extending the full length of the toe, the outer piece 7 of the upper portion being connected to the standard by the transverse webs 6, 6 at the ends only.

The standard 4 and the outer piece 7 are provided with cam slots or tracks 8 in which works the pin or axle 9 of the wheel or rolller 10 which effects the crimping of the sea The slots 8 are somewhat wider than the thickness of the pin to receive hardened rollers or sleeves 11 on the ends of the pin, the rollers having a rolling fit in the slots to reduce the friction and wear. The cam tracks or slots 8 are straight and parallel with the face of the plate 3 throughout the major portion of their length but are turned up at each end as indicated at 12to lift the roller away from the seal at either end of its movement to permit the insertion and Withdrawal of the bands and seal.

The crimping wheel 10 is actuated by means of a forked lever 13 which has its forked end pivoted on the pin 9 on each side of the crimping wheel, the lever being fulcrumed on the end of a short link 16 pivoted on the main casting near one end and having its other end projected into the fork of the lever 13 in the manner shown. The lever 13 is for convenience of operation bent at its point of pivotal connection with the link 16 and the bearing of the link 16 is arranged so that when the tool is open for receiving the band and seal to be crimped, the lever 13 projects in a substantially vertical direction. Supported on the pivot of the link 16 is a second handle 1% by which the tool is held when in use. The handle 1a is pivoted to permit it to extend in different directions as may be necessary by reason of the position of the seal.

In order to adapt the tool to operate on seals and bands of different widths, the hardened plate 3 is preferably detachable from the face of the toe or anvil piece. As shown the edges of the slot which receives the hardened plate are undercut so that the plate may be conveniently inserted from the end, and may be readily removed to permit plates of different widths to be inserted. The crimping wheel 10 is also mounted for easy removal so that wheels of different widths up to the distance between the arms of the fork may be substituted to accommodate the different widths of seals.

To properly position the seal and bands for crimping there is provided a guide pin 15 having the wedge-shaped end adapted to project between the turns of the coils of the seal and engage the edge of the band.

The operation of the device will now be described. The ends of the bands are preferably overlapped in the seal which consists of a fiat wire coil with the turns of the coil spaced apart from each other a distance somewhat greater than the diameter of the wire of the coil.

The band is drawn around the box and after its ends are overlapped in the seal the toe 2 of the sealing tool is placed under the seal and the projecting end of the band on top is grasped and drawn tight enough to take all the slack out of the band. At the beginning of the sealing operation the parts of the sealing tool are positioned as shown in the drawings, so that the roller 10 is at the end of the slot that it occupies when the lever 13 is vertical, and the axis of the wheel is substantially over the corresponding end of the seal. The operator now holds the tool firmly by the handle 1 1 and pressesagainst the handle 13, turning it down toward the horizontal. This movement causes the crimping wheel to travel along its slots, progressively engaging the coils of the seal and crimping them into the metal of the bands between the turns on the opposite side of the coil.

It requires very little muscular effort to effect the crimping action for the reason that as the crimping begins at one end and successively flattens the turns, the greater length of the band to produce the corrugations is not formed by stretching the band, but by drawing the metal through the uncrimped portion of the seal as it is taken up by the crimping action, so that the force required is merely that necessary to distort the metal of the coil and the-bands, successively producing the single corrugations and drawing the band tighter to the extent that the length of the metal in the corrugations is greater than the length of the straight band.

This method of crimping the seal from the and instead of by a single pressing action has the advantage that the ends of the band are drawn together by the crimping action, drawing the band tighter than can be effected by the preliminary pull on the band and permitting a toe of substantial thickness to be used without leaving the bands loose on the box.

It will be noted that the crimping wheel and hardened plate are a little narrower than the actual width of the coils of the seal. The purpose of this is to prevent mashing the coils at the turns sufliciently hard to rupture the wire of the seal.

By pivoting the handle 13 on the end of the link 16 the fulcrum of the lever 13 can adjust itself vertically as the axle of the roller follows the cam track, while the pivoted handle 14 provides a convenient means to hold the tool in position while the seals are being applied. Making the hardened plate 3 detachable not only permits plates of different widths to be substituted, but provides a ready means of replacing the plates at small cost for thepurpose of taking up wear both of the plate and the bearings of the crimping roller.

While I have shown and described my invention in detail, it will of course be understood that the invention is not limited to such details, but that the same may be variously modified without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a sealing tool the combination of a stationary support or anvil for the tie to besealed, a compressing member, means for advancing said member first into engagement with a P01431011 of the tie to compress the same, and then over the tie in a direction parallel with the support to progressively compress the successive portions of the tie.

2. In a tool of the character described the combination of a stationary support or anvilf for the article to be compressed, a roller mounted for movement over said anvil and means for effecting the movement of the roller first toward. the anvil and then parallel with the face'of the anvil to first compress a portion of the article and then progressively compress the successive portions of the article.

3. In a sealing tool for compressing seals or band ties, the combination of a support or anvil for the band tie, a compressing member for cooperation therewith, means for moving the compressing member, and a guide track for causing a movement of the compressing member first toward the band tie and then parallel with the face of the anvil to progressively compress the successive portions of the band tie.

4. In a sealing tool for compressing seals or band ties, the combination of a support or anvil for the band tie, a roller for cooperation therewith, means for moving the roller, and a guide track for causin a movment of the roller first toward the and tie and then parallel with the face of the anvil to progressively compress the successive portions of the band tie.

5. In a sealing tool the combination of a support or anvil for the tie to be sealed, a compressing member, and means for advancing said member progressively over the tie to effect its sealing, said anvil and compressing member being of less width than the tie to be compressed to avoid crushing or breaking of the edges of the tie.

Si ned at Chicago, in the county of Cook and7 tate of Illinois, this 12th day of Sept, 191

ELLSWORTH E. FLORA. 

